Keep Your Home California officials are always looking to improve the free mortgage-assistance program for hard-hit homeowners. The program has undergone many changes since starting in February 2011. This is the third of four posts that detail many of these program changes – and how they help homeowners.

Sometimes life can get a bit out of hand.

Maybe you’re dealing with a divorce, extraordinary medical bills or fewer hours and a smaller paycheck at work. Or – as well all know too well in recent years – you’re unemployed and looking for work.

Any of these challenges could create a financial hardship for homeowners, causing them to fall behind on their mortgage payments.

Well, Keep Your Home California’s Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance Program allows homeowners to “catch up” on their monthly payments, as long as they can meet the obligation going forward.

So far, almost 6,000 homeowners have used the Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance Program since February 2011, when Keep Your Home California started. The program has allowed homeowners to breathe easier – and remain in their homes.

Since the program was launched, officials have increased the maximum amount of assistance to homeowners through the Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance Program from $15,000 to $20,000, and ultimately to $25,000.

The one-time payment can cover past-due principal, interest, taxes and insurance, as well as any homeowner’s association dues. The assistance offers a clean slate for homeowners who fell behind due to a hardship, but are now able to make future mortgage payments.

The key to qualifying for the Mortgage Reinstatement Assistance Program is demonstrating you have an affordable monthly mortgage payment going forward. Assistance through this program can also be combined with a loan modification in order to achieve an affordable payment.

So, if you are behind on your mortgage payments the program can provide much-needed help. As with the other Keep Your Home California programs, homeowners must have suffered a financial hardship, such as a divorce, extraordinary medical bills, a job loss or loss of income – or a combination of factors (there are many acceptable hardships, these are merely some of the most common examples) in order to qualify.

In addition, a homeowner’s mortgage servicer – the company that collects the monthly mortgage payment – must be enrolled in the program.

About 175 mortgage servicers – a majority of those participating in Keep Your Home California – are enrolled in the Mortgage Assistance Program, including Bank of America, Chase Home Finance, Citi Mortgage, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo. You can see the complete list of mortgage servicers participating in the Mortgage Assistance Program at http://www.keepyourhomecalifornia.org/participating.htm).

If you have additional questions, would like more information or want to apply for Keep Your Home California, call 888-954-KEEP (5337) or visit www.KeepYourHomeCalifornia.org (Spanish speakers should visit www.conservatucasacalifornia.org). The counseling center is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. Translators are available, so counseling sessions can be conducted in virtually any language.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Keep Your Home California

Keep Your Home California is a $2 billion federal program run by the state, focused on helping low and moderate income families avoid foreclosure, stay in their homes, and maintain an affordable mortgage payment for long-term homeownership.